Kingdom Hearts: The Wandering Keyblade Master
by Magnamon
Summary: Things seem to be looking up for everyone as Sora continues to seal the keyholes. But when a black cloaked figure wanders into Traverse Town, things will get harder. Parings: SoraKairi, AerithCloud, YuffieOC
1. 1 The Wanderer

**Kingdom Hearts**

**The Wandering Keyblade Master**

This story takes place just after Sora seals Traverse Town. There are several changes to the story line, mainly some events happening at earlier times.

**Summary:**

Things seem to be looking up for everyone as Sora continues to seal the keyholes. But when a black cloaked figure wanders into Traverse Town, things go crazy. Parings: Sora/Kairi, Aerith/Cloud, Yuffie/OC

**Chapter 1: The Wanderer**

It was just another day at Traverse Town, err, night at Traverse Town and things were pretty good. Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith were always there to protect the people from any Heartless that came into the first district, the world's keyhole had been sealed, and fewer people were arriving at Traverse Town, assuming that fewer worlds were being destroyed, that is. But little do they know that things are about to get a lot harder for them. Yuffie and Aerith had just finished their lunch at the café and were about to go shopping (Aerith's suggestion).

"Hurry up Yuffie, if we miss this sale it's all your fault if you get hurt." Aerith said.

"I know, I know. Not everyone is as obsessed with shopping as you are. Though I do admit I'm surprised to see you this excited over an accessory sale." Yuffie replied.

"Of course I'm excited, they got new items in that could really help you guys in battle, do you think I like seeing my friends suffer?" Aerith asked.

"No, of course not. You do act and prove that you care about others, unlike Squall who acts like an asshole." Yuffie said.

"Yuffie! Don't say that, he may be cold hearted jerk at times, but he does care about others."

"Yeah right, I won't believe that until I see it."

"(sigh) What am I going to do with you child?"

"I don't know _Mom_ what are you going to do with me?"

"Don't start that again Yuffie, calling me Mom makes me feel old."

"Yeah, kinda like you calling me child makes me feel like a little kid."

"Okay, okay, I'll stop if you stop. Deal?"

"Deal."

With that they set off to the accessory shop. Just after they entered the shop, the entrance to Traverse Town opened. A cloaked figure entered as the door closed. He slowly walked over to the café and sat down, although it appeared as if he was holding something from under his cloak for support. Barely a minute later, a waitress approached him.

"Hi, you look new here. Anything I can get ya?" she asked.

"Some water, please." He replied.

"Ya sure that's all you want hun, we have coffee, sodas, hot chocolate, milk, chocolate milk, juice, root beer, anything?" she asked.

"…On second thought, some chocolate milk sounds good." He said slowly.

"One chocolate milk coming right up!" The waitress said and hurried off to the kitchen. While waiting for his order, the cloaked figure took a high-potion from his cloak and quickly drank it.

"That's more like it." He mumbled. A minute later, the waitress came back with a tall glass of chocolate milk and a straw.

"Here ya go hun, that'll be 5 munny please." She said, after setting his drink down. He paid for his drink and the waitress left. He sat there thinking about where he was going to go next after he was done with his business there, occasionally taking a sip from his glass. After that he left for the item shop to restock on his supplies. Just as he entered the item shop, the door to the accessory shop opened and Yuffie and Aerith walked out.

"This new duo defense ring should at least double you defensive power Yuffie. I told you this was a great idea." Aerith was saying.

"You were right, this thing would have been really expensive if we had missed the sale." Yuffie replied. "I wonder what Squall is doing right now, I'd a thought he would have jumped at the chance to get new equipment, right?"

"I think he mentioned that he was going to be in the secret waterway, practicing some long sword technique." Aerith said.

"He's still working on that? But he already mastered it 2 days ago. Probably trying to get the feel of it, that sword did looked hard to swing around, but knowing Leon, he'll be able to so swing it like his regular gunblade." Yuffie replied. "I've already fully mastered my new shuriken technique. Who knows, maybe when he sees it he'll actually say something remotely nice."

"It's possible, after all miracles do happen." Aerith said. She then mumbled "So long as it's not something just slapped together."

"Hey what's that suppose to mean!"

"You heard that?"

"Yeah, I am the Great Ninja Yuffie after all."

"…Get over yourself..."

"WHAT!"

"Forget it, lets just go back to the hotel. I think I'm going to take a nap anyways."

"…Fine."

They were about to head back to the hotel when the door to the item shop opened and the cloaked figure walked out. (From now on I'll call him ?)

"Hey, you new here?" Yuffie asked. ? said nothing and just walked past them to the stairs. "You could say something, ya know." ? just kept on walking toward the second district door. "That guy's being a bigger jerk than Leon is." At this the figure stopped for a moment, shook his head, and went into the second district. It was as the door closed that the entrance door burst open when a large group of heartless barreled through. To be precise, 10 soldiers, 6 new heartless with bulky blue armor and dog faced shield growling like crazy (Defenders), and 4 sorcerer like heartless (Wizards). (Only saying new because it's new to the Traverse Town gang.) "What the? Aerith go get Squall, these guys look tough."

"What? Your not seriously going to fight them, are you?"

"Take a look at that." Aerith looked at where Yuffie pointed to see the heartless chasing people all over the place. "If I sit around waiting for Squall to get here, these people will lose their hearts and that's something I'd rather not have on my conscious." She then gave an almost sad smile. "Besides, the Great Ninja Yuffie should be able to hold them off until backup arrives." Yuffie said.

"…Be careful Yuffie." Aerith said, hugging Yuffie, with tears in her eyes. "Sorry about being a smart mouth back there."

"Same here." With that Yuffie readied her shurikens. "Hurry up and get Squall."

"Right." Aerith said, letting go and starting up the stairs.

"Well, time to see if my new move is any good." Yuffie said, charging up her magic into her shuriken and jumping into the fray. She launches it and after a lot of bouncing around it kills the 10 soldiers. "Alright! Ten down, Ten to go." She then started throwing her regular shuriken at a Defender only to see them bounce harmlessly to the ground. "(Gulp) I guess the real fight begins no-" She's cut off as the offended Defender rammed full speed into her, sending her crashing into the wall. She let out a cry of pain as she slid down to the ground.

Unfortunately for her, these heartless had at least some amount of brains. The Defender proceeded to grab Yuffie by the head, lifting her off the ground. She struggled against it, but it was too strong for her. It then swung around in a circle and flung her into the café. Also unfortunately for her???'s glass from before was still on the table, and ended up breaking on her back as she flew into the café. After a few seconds in the air, she hit the brick wall hard, on her head, by the way. Between the few tables and chairs she went through, the glass in her back, and finally the impact with the wall, she was left in a bloody heap on the floor unconscious.

As the Defender was about to charge at her, a bright red light slammed into it, sending it a small ways away. At that moment, all the heartless stopped what they were doing and looked at the scene as it took place. The light came from , who was standing on the roof of the accessory shop. He fazed out of view only to reappear in front of the café. He held out both his arms in front of him, and two twin style swords came out into his hands (Think of the Gilded sword from Zelda Majora's mask). The only difference between the two was that one was completely gold in color, while the other was completely sea green in color.

"Your fight is with me now." ? stated before charging the Defender he had attacked. The Defender, still getting up, quickly raised his shield for defense, expecting him to charge him dead on. When nothing happened, the Defender lowered its shield to find nothing in front of it. It was just then that a sword burst through its chest. ? had jumped over it and attacked it from behind. It burst into hp and munny balls, and also a giant red case. "Next."

Two Defenders charged him together, only to go straight through him. Looking back they saw it was only an after image. They then heard a whistle and turned to their right just in time to see ? come flying at them through the air, rapidly spinning around with his swords pointed outward. He sliced through them with relative ease as they burst into the usual goodies, only this time one of them had a large blue case while the other had another red one. It was around this time that Leon and Aerith arrived.

"Who is that guy, and what kind of heartless are those?" Leon asked.

"Don't know either of those, but where is Yuffie?" Aerith said while searching for her friend. It was only a moment later… "OH MY GOD, YUFFIE!" she shrieked seeing her in the café and running to her.

"…Yuffie…" Leon whispered. Just at a glance you could tell she was in bad shape. He tightened his grip on his gunblade, and turned to face what remained of the heartless, 4 Wizards by the way. "You Bastards, you'll pay for this, do you hear me, YOU'LL PAY!" With that, he charged the two nearest wizards.

They both shot a magic attack at him, one flame and one ice. This proved fruitless as he dodged them with ease and swung his gunblade in an ark slash, hitting them both with a fiery blade, but to his surprise they glowed red for a moment and acted like his attack didn't do anything. "What the F-" was all he could say as the two Wizards each fired a ball of flame at his chest. The result was him being blown back into the wall. He gave a small grunt as he landed and very slowly started to get up.

Just as the two Wizards were about to attack again, the other two Wizards collided with them, knocking them all onto the ground. ? landed just in front of them. He pointed one of his swords at them.

"Gravitron!" He yelled. Suddenly a circle of black energy came down upon them, instantly crushing and destroying them all. With the Heartless beaten ? retracted his swords into his cloak and was about to leave when he heard a loud sob.

"Yuffie! Yuffie wake up! Yuffie! YUFFIE!" a hysterical Aerith yelled out as she tried to wake Yuffie up. Yuffie's back was dripping of blood, glass embedded into her skin. Her stomach had a big bruise on it, the center of it bleeding. Her hair was also ruffled up and had some blood in it to. Looking at the poor girl ??? walked over to her and knelt down.

"…Let me help." He said. He took Yuffie by the shoulders and gently rolled her over. He then placed her down on the ground on her stomach. With that he stood up, stepped back, and placed hand out in front of him. "Ytivarg." He murmured. An orb of black energy surrounded Yuffie and lifted the glass out of her back. Guiding it with his hand ??? moved the shards of glass over to the side and released the spell. Carefully, he turned Yuffie onto her back. "Curatron." He said as he held his hand on her shoulder. A green light emitted from his hand and traveled through Yuffie, instantly healing her. Letting go of her he turned to Aerith.

"Your friend should be alright, she'll need to rest for a while though." ? said.

"Thank you" Aerith said, "But who are?"

"Call me … Zero." ? said. He placed a hand on Aerith's shoulder and murmured something. A green light entered Aerith, she suddenly learned the spell Curaga. "A gift. One that should be useful." He then pulled a small box out of his cloak and handed it to Aerith. "Give these to Yuffie when she wakes up. If she's going to fight those heartless, she'll need more power than she had today." With that said, Zero walked out of the wreaked café and entered the third district.


	2. 2 Making Friends

**Kingdom Hearts**

**The Wandering Keyblade Master**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Squaresoft, Disney, Final Fantasy, etc. I apologizes all who are even remotely insulted by this fanfic too. All original ideas belong to me, those who want to use any of my characters must ask permission first, and probably will get it.**

**Chapter 2: Making Friends**

As the doors closed behind him, Zero walked toward the door with the flame symbol on it. He encountered some shadows and soldiers along the way, they were about to attack him when he turned to them. They stopped dead in their tracks, looking at him for a moment, and then vanished in a puff of black smoke. With that said and done he walked through the doorway that led to Merlin's house. After crossing over the water he enters the house.

Merlin: "Zero, I've been expecting you. It's unusual for you to be late."

Zero: "A couple of Defenders and Wizards came to town, along with some soldiers. Some ninja girl took care of the soldiers with ease, but was nearly killed by the Defender she attacked. I had to step in. Then some guy with what looked like a gunblade went to attack two Wizards, but instead ended up making them stronger. Had to save him to.

Merlin: I see. I do hope Miss Yuffie is alright. Leon can handle a little pain, I've seen him injured. Come and sit down, take your cloak off, stay awhile.

Zero does take his cloak off, walks up, and sits at the table. Zero has spiked up goldish-blond hair, sea green eyes, and a muscular frame. One long strand of his hair fell down to his face, over his right eye, in an arch. But the one thing most noticeable was the cross shaped scar on his left cheek. He looked to be 17 to 18 years old, and also tall. He wore a gold sleeveless shirt, some gold and baggy sweat pants, and green cloth belt around his waist. His swords were on either side of his waist, in sheaths attached to his belt. (Think SSJ2 Gohan in the Cell Games Sage of DBZ, only a little older.).

Zero: "The heartless are growing stronger, and some have even begun developing brain cells."

Merlin: "Yes, I know. You also have a dilemma on your hands correct?"

Zero: "Yeah, Maleficent can easily track my movements. I don't get much time to search for the keyholes, much less defend them."

Merlin: "Here, take this. It may not be able to stop Maleficent from tracking you completely, but it should help improve your ability to hold that weapon of yours a lot longer. Also, there is something here I think you will find useful against the heartless."

He hands Zero a small box. Zero opens it up and a look of surprise appears on his face.

Zero: "Thanks Merlin. This should definitely come in handy."

Merlin: "You're welcome. I also know of an item synthesizing shop in the first district. With all your items, they will be able to make some great weapons. It's just above the accessories shop."

Zero: "I'll have to check it out, thanks."

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A few hours later, at the hotel, Leon and Aerith had taken Yuffie back to get her to bed. She still hadn't awakened from the battle, and that worried Aerith.

Aerith: "She's still out cold. How could this have happened? The duo defense ring should have doubled her defensive power. Why didn't it work?"

Leon: "It did work; the thing is that the heartless are growing stronger. I doubt Sora could have take them. Anyways, what was in that box that that guy gave you?"

Aerith: "I don't know. Let's take a look."

She takes out the small case and opens it. Inside are 10 sapphire shuriken giving off a mystical looking glow. Leon whistled as he looked at them. Aerith was in awe at how beautiful these weapons were. Just then, they both heard a soft moan and saw Yuffie was waking up.

Aerith: "Yuffie! You're awake! Oh thank goodness, did you know how worried we were! Don't ever do that to us again, ya hear!"

Yuffie: "… Aerith, my body is sore all over and I've got a splitting head ach. I don't… Hey! Wait a second! What happened? And how am I completely healed?"

Aerith: "Remember that guy in the cloak? Well, he saved you. He took out all of those heartless with ease. Leon tried hitting them with his gunblade, but it didn't do anything at all. That guy came over and used some spell to remove the glass from your back. He then cast some advanced cure spell that healed you completely. He then gave me the spell Curaga, a level 3 spell! He also said if you were going to fight those kind of heartless you should use these." She held up the shurikens. Yuffie gasped in awe.

Yuffie: "They're beautiful. Just one thing, though, did you get his name?"

Leon: "… His name is Zero. As to what he looks like, or even what his intentions are, we still don't know."

Yuffie: "Oh… Zero. Sounds kind of cool. Anyways, I think I'm gonna take a nice hot bath, maybe that'll help my aching body." At that Leon quickly turned away, covering the ever so small blush coming on his face at the thought.

Leon: "Er, ahem… fine then, go ahead. I'm going to bed."

Aerith & Yuffie: "Good night." Leon just walked into his room.

Aerith: "I think I'm gonna go to bed too. Try not to stay up so late, ok?"

Yuffie: "Alright." With that, she went into the bathroom to take her bath, while Aerith went to bed.

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The next day, Yuffie woke up at about 11:30AM, and felt great. She decided to go to the Synthesizing shop to see if she could make any new accessories to help her in battle. When she got there, she saw someone already talking to a moogle.

Yuffie: 'That's funny, I never saw him here before. I wonder who it is.' She then went up to him. "Hi, you new here?" At this the guy turned around to look at her.

Zero: "Your name's Yuffie, right? In any case, you're looking better than you did yesterday."

Yuffie: " What? How do you … wait a second. You're Zero, right?"

Zero: "Yeah. Did you get the shuriken I gave that girl?"

Yuffie: "Yes, I did. They're beautiful. Thanks a lot, I can't wait to test them out."

Zero: "You should rest for the day, at the least. My spell only heals damage, not restore energy."

Yuffie: "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyhow, you come to make some accessories?"

Zero: "Yeah, not much else to do around here, is there?"

Yuffie: "I guess not."

"Ahem." They looked down to see the moogle looking at them. "IS there anything we can make for the two of you?" it asked, handing them both a list of synthesizing items, ingredients, and what the items do.

Yuffie: "…All I can get is a Power Chain." She said with a small pout.

Zero: "…… I'll take 4 Master Earrings, 2 Titan Chain, and 4 AP Ups."

Yuffie: "WHAT? How can you get all that stuff? These Ingredients are super hard to find."

Zero: "I've traveled around to many worlds, beaten a bunch of high classed heartless, and trained with some of the best fighters in the galaxy."

Yuffie: "Oh…" Was all she could say.

Moogle: "Here are your items. Thank you, and please come again with more items, we love to experiment new things."

Zero: "I'll see what I can do."

Yuffie: "Thanks." Zero and Yuffie walked out. Outside, Zero uses the AP Ups, equips 2 Master Earrings, and both Titan Chains, while Yuffie equips her Power Chain.

Zero: "Here take these, they can help you a lot more than they can me." He hands her his remaining Master Earrings.

Yuffie: "What? I can't take these. You must have worked hard to get the ingredients for them."

Zero: "Consider it as an apology. I had left my glass on the table you crashed through yesterday… and for being a jerk, as you put it." He grins. "Besides, I think they'll look better on you than me anyways."

Yuffie: Blushes. "Umm, thanks then, I guess. And sorry about that Jerk comment." She equips the earrings.

Zero: "Don't mention it. Besides, I kind of am one most of the time. There aren't that many people I can trust, or even afford to trust for that matter."

Yuffie: "…Ok then. So, you wanna get some lunch at the café? I know they had some spare tables just in case something like this happened."

Zero: Looks up at the sky for a moment, then at Yuffie. "I guess I could. Heh, can't kick Heartless ass without some food in your stomach, can you?"

Yuffie: "(Giggles) Nope, I don't suppose you could."

So they walked down to the café to get something to eat. When they got there, it was all cleaned up and with new tables and chairs, just like Yuffie predicted. Yuffie noticed Cid, Leon, and Aerith were sitting at a table eating lunch, so she pointed them out to Zero and started over to them.

Yuffie: "Hey guys, whats up?"

Cid: "Hey kid, nice to see ya up and about after that there fight yesterday. Who's this fine fella ya got here?"

Yuffie: " First off, don't call me kid you old man. Second, this is Zero, without his cloak on."

Zero: "Hi."

Cid: "Heh, a man of few words eh. Names's Cid, I work with gummi parts and own the accessory shop."

Aerith: "I'm Aerith, thanks for your help yesterday."

Leon: "…Leon…"

Zero: mumbles "Oh, I'm a man of few words." Talks normally. "Nice to meet all of you." Everyone had heard him mumble. Yuffie and Aerith giggled, Cid smiled, and Leon just raised an eye brow.

Aerith: "Would you care to join us for lunch Zero? We've got enough room for five here."

Zero: "Why not. I am getting a little hungry anyways." Yuffie and Zero sit down.

Leon: "Tell me Zero, how did you beat those heartless so easily when we could barely do any damage?"

Zero: "Well first off, when you attacked those Wizards with your sword, its fire elemental right, you didn't damage them. You actually made them stronger and restored their HP."

Yuffie: "What? How does that work out?"

Zero: "Well, Wizard heartless are strengthened by fire, ice and electric elements. The only way for fire to work against them would be to reflect their own flame attack back at them. Not only does it cause them damage, but it also puts them in a dazed state for about a minute."

Aerith: "You seem to know quite a bit about the heartless."

Zero: "Yeah, I just studied some guy's report. I also found a sort of Heartless Index book. It's very specific in heartless details, from their strengths and weaknesses to what items they leave behind. It really helped me gather the items I need every now and then."

Aerith: "Do you still have this book?"

Zero: "Yeah, I do. It's in my gummy ship, along with a copy of the report. I'll get it after lunch for you."

Leon: "The guy who wrote that report, his name wouldn't have been Ansem, would it?" At this everyone looked at Zero.

Zero: "Something like that, yeah."

Yuffie: "Where did you find it? We thought that the report was scattered all over the galaxy."

Zero: "It was, until Maleficent found them all. It was hard enough to find where she hid it, much less make a copy of it."

Cid: "Ya mean ya know where Maleficent's place is?"

Zero: "Some place called Hollow Bastion. Judging from how the place is in shambles now, I'd say it must have been a beautiful place." Zero then notices everyone's shocked, sad, and/or anger expressions. "You been there before?"

Aerith: In a whisper "That's our home world."

Zero: shocked "I'm…I'm so sorry. I didn't know it was your world."

Yuffie: "…Its ok, how could you have known? Besides, at least now we know that it still exists."

Leon: mumbles "And where the heartless's main base of operations is."

After that, everyone eats their lunch. Zero gets the report and the detailed book about the heartless. Then they all head over to Cid's house over in the third district.

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This has to be the longest chapter I've ever written, although that's not saying much. Anyways, the more reviews I get, the sooner the next chapter will be up. Till then.


	3. 3 Training and Fun

**Kingdom Hearts**

**The Wandering Keyblade Master**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Squaresoft, Disney, Final Fantasy, etc. I apologizes all who are even remotely insulted by this fanfic too. All original ideas belong to me, those who wish to use my characters must ask permission first, and probably will get it.**

**Chapter 3: Training and Fun**

After Zero got the report and the book, everyone went to Cid's house in the third district. After everyone had glanced through both reports, they started talking.

Leon: "This index is remarkable. The monster's name, its strength, how much certain spells and attacks affect it, what you can get after you beat it, and what percentage of the chances of getting which said item are. This must have taken years to make. Just how many people wrote this book?"

Zero: "…I don't know when it was written, but I did update it not long ago with my handy wrist watch computer. It can record tests and battles and can even calculate percentages easily. I understand if it's hard to believe that some kid could have updated this report this efficiently in 2 years, much less at all, I wouldn't blame you if you don't believe me, but then I don't exactly care anyways either."

Leon: "… How reliable is this book? Each Defender you beat, you got a rare item that, according to this, had a 2 percent chance, or less, to get one of these items."

Zero: "It's very reliable. As I traveled from world to world, I gained new abilities, and item abilities, that help in battle. One in particular, called Lucky Strike, helps boost the chances of getting a rare item from an enemy by about 12 percent. I've got 7 Lucky Strikes right now, so it's only natural that my chances of getting rare items look good."

Yuffie: "Man you're lucky. Where do you get those? We could use some of those around here."

Zero: "Found most of them in treasure chests on other worlds. I'd go back to search for more, but each of those worlds were taken by the heartless not long after I arrived there. By the way, where's the keyhole to this town? The sooner it's found, the sooner a defense can be mounted up around it."

Aerith: "You don't need to worry about that here. This world is sealed already."

Zero: "What? But I thought only someone with a Keyblade could seal worlds."

Leon: "That's true. Some kid named Sora has a Keyblade. He sealed this world already, and is currently sealing other worlds as we speak."

Zero: "I don't know if I should be relieved or worried about some kid sealing up the worlds,"

Yuffie: "Things did look grim at first. Sora barely beat Squall, and then needed help to beat the Guard Armor. But with each world he goes to, he gets stronger. But I have to agree with you about being worried now. These new heartless nearly… the point is, is that he'll need to do some serious training to beat these guys."

Zero: "Who is this Squall person? He must have been pretty weak to lose to some kid like that." He noticed that Yuffie and Aerith were giggling like mad, and that Leon wasn't looking to happy at the moment.

Yuffie: "Squall is Leon's real name. He only uses his new name because he thinks he should have been able to stop the heartless from taking over our world. He's ashamed of himself for being beaten so easily, so he wanted to start over. That's when Leon was born. _Leon_ claims that he went easy on Sora, and that's why he lost." Leon gives a small grunt.

Zero: "Oh, …I see." He says. 'That explains a lot. Then again, I'm not much different myself either.' He thinks. Aerith suddenly looks at him with a sparkle in her eyes.

Aerith: "You said you traveled to different worlds right?"

Zero: "Yeah, why?"

Aerith: You didn't happen to meet someone named Cloud, did you? He has blond spiked up hair, a red cape, and a big sword. Did you see him?"

Zero: "Let me think for a sec. ……… I think so. Some guy signed up named Cloud over at the Coliseum not to long ago. He beat some kid, a duck, and a walking dog thing in the preliminary rounds, or he would have if Cerberus hadn't entered the ring and stepped on him." He would have continued but at that point, Aerith walked over to him, grabbed by the collar, and started shaking him around.

Aerith: "What do you mean, he got stepped on. Who is Cerberus? How could he step on my Cloud? Is he alright? Why didn't you help him?" She continued to ramble on until Yuffie pulled her off Zero.

Yuffie: "Sorry about that. Aerith and Cloud are lovers, and we all got separated during the heartless invasion, and Aerith has been worried sick about him."

Zero: Takes a few breaths. "…So I've noticed." He turns to Aerith. "Cerberus is a giant 3 headed dog that guards the door to the underworld. He was probably ordered to do so by Hades, the Lord of the underworld. I didn't help him because that world's hero, Hercules, saved him. After wearing Cerberus down, that kid came back and finished him off. After he left, the kid met up with Cloud at the exit. He looked alright to me. They talked for a few minutes. Heard Cloud had tried to do something with the powers of darkness, and it backfired. He got lost in the darkness. He lost sight of his light, and was searching for it ever sense. The kid said he was searching for his own light too. Cloud told him not to lose sight of it, and he gave him an item ability, then walked off. That's all I know." Aerith stood there for a second, then turned to Cid.

Aerith: "Cid, can I borrow a gummi ship? I need to know if it really is Cloud or not." She starred at him intensely.

Cid: "What are ya crazy woman? I can't let ya go all…" He trailed off when he noticed the stare. "Fine, you can go. But only if someone goes with ya, someone that can take care of ya and my ship." With this said, Aerith looked at everyone in the room with pleading eyes.

Leon: "…I'll take her."

All: "What?"

Leon: "I've got some things I need to think about anyways, this seems like the best chance. …All this assuming a certain someone doesn't leave town while I'm gone."

Zero: "I'll stick around for a while. This seems like my kind of place anyways."

Aerith: "Alright then! It's settled! Lets go!" She ran out the door.

Zero: Whispers to Yuffie. "Does she always act like she's sugar high when it comes to Cloud, or is this new?"

Yuffie: Whispers back. "This is a new high for her, I just hope for all our sakes it is the Cloud she's searching for."

Zero: "Do I want to know what will happen if we're wrong?"

Yuffie: "No. We should pray just in case, though. She may seem nice, but when angry, she could scare several soldier heartless away. And that did happen, by the way."

Zero: "… Lovely." 'I can do that easily enough, but when a woman can do that, it's just asking for trouble to mess her.'

Leon: "I best get going, don't want her to get too mad. Mind giving me the keys Cid?"

Cid: "Here ya go. Do us a favor, call first if it's not him, Kay? Gives us a chance to hide and barricade the doors, right?"

Leon: "Noted." Leon took the keys and walked out the door.

Cid: "I gotta get back to the shop. Never know when some new customers might drop in, right?"

Yuffie: "Yeah, your right. Go ahead and play with your toys old man. Zero and I'll be fine on our own."

Cid: "Whatever you say KID." At this, Yuffie gave a small pout. Grinning, Cid walked out the door."

Yuffie: "…I hate it when people call me kid."

Zero: "So I've noticed. Calling him an old man doesn't faze him much, does it?"

Yuffie: "No, not really. I can't think of anything else to call him that would get him to…to…"

Zero: "Flip his lid?"

Yuffie: "Something like that."

Zero: "… Just call him an old fart. That should get something out of him. Its always worked for me."

Yuffie: "… Old fart!" At this, she starts laughing. "Why didn't I think of that. Hey, maybe you could help me come up with some more stuff like that, huh, huh?"

Zero: "Why not, I just need to grab my stuff from Merlin's place. I'd stay there, but the place is to old and dusty."

Yuffie: "You can check into the hotel in the second district. That's where we're staying."

Zero: "I think I will." So after turning off the lights and gathering their things, Yuffie and Zero left for Merlin's place. As they were rounding a corner, they came upon some shadows and soldiers, ready to attack. Yuffie got ready to fight, but Zero put a hand on her shoulder. He then glared at the heartless. Just like last time, they vanished in a puff of black smoke.

Yuffie: "How did you do that? Leon glares at them all the time, but it doesn't do jack squat."

Zero: " It's a gift." He stated. They both continued to Merlin's house, Zero picked up his things, and they left for the hotel. When they got there, Zero checked into the blue room at the end of the hotel. It was similar to the red room, a king sized bed, a mirror and a dresser. It also had a door to the balcony as well.

Yuffie: "Not a bad place you got here."

Zero: "It'll do."

Yuffie: "So… any ideas of what to do to Squall?"

Zero: " Just call Cid an old fart while he's drinking something. He'll probably spit it out all over himself. If that doesn't work, just put a whoopee cushion under his pillow. That'll give him a good wake up call in the middle of the night."

Yuffie: "I'll try that out. Thanks Zero, you seem to be used to this kind of thing."

Zero: "Yeah, I've had some practice."

Yuffie: "Speaking of which, I think I'll try out these new shuriken you gave me."

Zero: "Hold on. Remember what I said earlier?"

Yuffie: "No."

Zero: "(Sigh) You should rest up for at least a day first before you begin training again."

Yuffie: "No way! I'm not about to lie around in bed all day long when there's a town to protect. Besides, I feel fine. Heh, Leon and Aerith say that I'm always energetic even when I'm tired, so I'll be ok."

Zero: "…Fine…but I'm coming with you. You still haven't fully recovered from yesterday completely, regardless of what say. Besides, with me there, you'll stand a better chance of getting rare items."

Yuffie: "Oh, okay. Have it your way." Yuffie and Zero left the hotel and jumped into the town square. They met 4 Wizards and 4 Green Requiems.

Zero: "Stoptron!" All of the heartless froze in place. "Gravitron!" An orb of black energy came down upon 2 Wizards and 2 Requiems. They burst into the usual hp and munny balls, with 2 big cases and 2 little ones. Each case had 1 blue and 1 red. Yuffie jumped into the air and fired 6 shuriken at the remaining heartless. 2 hit per Wizard, while the remaining 2 hit 1 Requiem each. After a moment, they also burst into red cases, hp and munny ball.

Yuffie: "Look at all this stuff! 3 bright shards, 3 shiny crystals, a protera chain, and a Wizard's Relic, not to mention how powerful these shuriken are! Is this what your Lucky Strike ability does?"

Zero: "Yeah. By the way, those shuriken are only as powerful as the one who uses them is, and with what's inside as well. The true you."

Yuffie: "Amazing. Looks like Squall was wrong about how weak I was."

Zero: "I think he knew how strong you really were all along. He only just says those things to keep you from becoming to overconfident."

Yuffie: "…Maybe. Lets go see if we can get anything else around here."

Zero: "You read my mind." Zero and Yuffie traveled around the second district for a good 2 hours, beating Darkballs ( Giant black and purple-ish floating heads with antennae) , Defenders, Wizards, Wyverns ( Small red dragon like heartless), and Green Requiems. They got several items, leveled up a few levels, and had an overall good work out. They were currently resting near the fountain when Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked in.

Sora: "Hey Yuffie, Leon, you guys out here?" He yelled.

Yuffie: "Down by the fountain." Sora and his gang walked down to meet them.

Sora: "Hey Yuffie, what's up? You look like you had a real workout. Hey, who are you?"

Zero: "Just call me Zero."

Sora: "Oh, well nice to meet you. I'm Sora, this is Donald, and he's Goofy."

Donald & Goofy: "Hello."

Sora: "So Yuffie… is he your boyfriend?"

Zero & Yuffie: "No!" Both blushing.

Sora: "Ok, just checking. You two look like you would make a cute couple."

Zero: Still blushing "…Whatever. So you're the new Keyblade Wielder I've heard about?"

Sora: Excitedly "You mean you've heard of me?"

Zero: "Yeah, your that guy that got beat in the finals of the preliminary match tournament over at the Coliseum, and only passed by beating a worn down Cerberus, right?"

Sora: 'Ouch' "Something like… wait a sec, Cerberus wasn't worn down. We took him down at full strength."

Zero: "Then what was Hercules doing while you were lollygagging around, huh? It took him about a minute to get Cloud out from under its paw, so what happened in the meantime?"

Sora: "Umm…"

Zero: "I thought so. Don't worry about it. In time you might be able to beat him at full strength. You should start training here against the new heartless in town. Beating them should help you level up quite a bit."

Sora: "New heartless?"

Zero: (sigh) "Just walk over there and be prepared to face some Defenders."

Sora: "Defenders? Whatever, we'll beat them easy, right guys?"

Donald & Goofy: "Right!" They walk over to where Zero pointed and came face to face with 3 Defenders. After 2 minutes of fighting, Donald and Goofy were knocked out while Sora landed in the fountain. He stood up with a groan only to slip and fall back in.

Zero: "I'll finish this." He rushed the Defenders and took them out in 30 seconds flat. Sora just sat there, in the fountain, with his mouth open. "I'd get some rest if I were you, then go to the Coliseum to enter the Phil cup that's starting up. Once you manage to beat it in the time restricted mode, come see me. I have some weapons your friends could use." It was at this moment that Leon, Aerith, and Cloud walked in and saw Sora in the fountain, Donald and Goofy unconscious and off to the side, Yuffie laughing her head off pointing at Sora, and Zero standing in the center of the town square.

Leon: "…What happened here?"

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A few hours later at the café…

Aerith: "Sounds like you guys had a good time while we were gone." That brought a few smirks to the table.

Zero: "Yeah, maybe, but probably not as much fun as you'll be having tonight, right." He said after taking a bite of his sandwich. Aerith blushed a deep red, Cloud had small tints of red on his cheeks, Leon chuckled a little, Cid and Yuffie laughed (a rare sight), Donald and Goofy were busy eating and didn't hear him, while Sora had a confused look on his face.

Sora: "Umm… What do you mean by that?" Aerith's blush got even more red, Cloud was now fully blushing, Leon, Yuffie, Zero, and Cid just laughed, Donald and Goofy still ate their meals not paying attention to anything else.

Yuffie: Pinching Sora's cheeks "Well aren't you such the innocent Keyblade Wielder."

Sora: Knocks her hands away. "Hey, cut it out!"

Cid: "…Yeah, cut it out _kid_." It was at this time that Leon decided to take a sip of his soda.

Yuffie: Glances over to Zero, who just smirks. "Ah, what do you know, you old fart." At this Leon, unfortunately for Cloud, spat his soda out and all over Cloud's face and himself, laughing, Aerith and Cid looked shocked, Sora and Zero joined Leon laughing. Cid's face then turned from shock to anger.

Cid: "**_What did you call me?"_**

Yuffie: "An old fart, why? … Ahhhh!" After Yuffie repeated herself, Cid started chasing her all around first district, until Yuffie jumped onto the roof of the accessory shop. "(pant, pant) looks like I found a new nickname for ya Cid."

Cid: "Ya gotta come down from there sometime, and when you do, your gonna get-."He was cut off by Leon's hand. He whispered something in his ear and Cid blushed at first, but then grinned evilly. He went inside the accessory shop.

Yuffie: "Hey, what's he doing?" She was currently sitting on the shop's chimney. She found out when a huge puff of smoke blew up around her. When she jumped off the roof, she was black and covered in ash. Cid immerged a minute later. "That was (cough) dirty, (cough) even (cough) for you (cough)."

Leon: Smirking. "Looks like someone needs a bath. Hey Cloud, wanna give me a hand over here?" Cloud just stared at him for a moment until he caught on to what Leon was getting at, and grinned evilly.

Cloud: "Sure, it'll be a pleasure. I think a dip in Merlin's water should clean her up just fine." He started to walk over.

Yuffie: Starts backing away, shaking a little. "You wouldn't."

Leon: Smiles. "That's a stupid question if I ever heard one, right Cloud?"

Cloud: Laughs. "Yeah, I'll say." As Leon and Cloud approached Yuffie, everyone in first district froze in place, except for Zero and Yuffie. Zero quickly ran over to Yuffie.

Zero: "My time spell will only last for 3 minutes, so we got to move fast. Lets go to the hotel. Grab your things and come to my room. You can spend the night in my room where it's safe. You can get cleaned up there, okay?" He whispered. Yuffie nodded. They both took off in a run to the hotel. By the time the spell wore off, Zero was just locking the door to his room. He then rushed over and locked the balcony door, locked the windows, and closed the blinds. After that, both Yuffie and Zero collapsed on the ground.

Yuffie: "Thanks for bailing me out back there. You do realize that they can still get in here from the outside, though, right?"

Zero: Goes through his things, and pulls out a purple orb. "Not with this they won't. I picked this up from a couple of White Mushroom heartless. It was originally 10 Stop Arts, but Merlin merged them to form this time orb. All I have to do is tape this thing to the wall, and it, along with anything remotely touching it, will stay in the same condition as it is now." He pulls out some duck tape and tapes it to the wall.

Yuffie: " That's a relief. I'm gonna go take a shower now. _AND DON'T YOU DARE PEAK, GOT THAT!_"

Zero: Puts a finger in his ear and rubs it around. "Loud and clear. You might want to grab a clean pair of cloths before you go in though. Just a thought." Yuffie did just that. After she closed the bathroom door, Zero took off his shirt. An ugly bullet like scar was on his right shoulder. It went straight through to his back. He put his shirt on his bag and gets into bed. After setting a silent alarm for the morning, he pushed a button and small ear phones popped out of the watch. After putting them on, he selected one of his favorite songs (his watch could play music), put it on repeat, and went to sleep on one side of the bed. 10 minutes later, Yuffie came out of the bathroom in a long night shirt. She looked over, and was surprised to see Zero already asleep. She quietly got into bed next to him. She looks at him while he slept.

Yuffie: 'He looks so peaceful when he's sleeping, so happy. I wonder what could have made him who he is now. Must have been something big. _He looks kinda cute with that smile on his face._ Whoa, where did that come from. We just met this morning face to face. _It's still true._ Shut up! … I'm arguing with myself. That's probably not a good sign. I better just go to sleep now before I think anything else I shouldn't be. _God, he looks so hot and sexy without his shirt. Just look at those muscles!_ ………….'

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How was that? I want all the opinions I can get. Good or bad. 4th chapter coming soon.


	4. 4 Zero's Past

**Kingdom Hearts**

**The Wandering Keyblade Master**

This Chapter will dive into Zero's past. I nearly cried when I wrote this. Hope you enjoy this.

**Chapter 4: Zero's Past**

It was 4:30 AM. Leon had just finished his long training session, half to get better, half to get away from Aerith and Cloud's moans through the door to his room. Leon walked out of the secret waterway and jumped to his room's balcony. He walked in and after getting undressed and taking a shower he got into bed. But just as he put his head on his pillow…

Phooouuu

Leon: "Ahhhh! What the Hell!" He lifts his pillow up and sees a deflated Whoopee Cushion. His first thoughts were 'Yuffie I'll get you back for this.', but as he turned it over, he saw the Crest of the Royal Family. It was then he realized it had to be Sora, Donald, and/or Goofy, because he had only seen the crest on King Mickey's gummi ship. Now fully awake he stares at the ceiling, thinking about everything that has happened up till this point. Meanwhile in Zero's room.

Zero & Yuffie: "Whaaa…Owwwww." As soon as they heard Leon's yell, they bolted straight up in bed, hitting their heads in the process.

Zero: "What was that?"

Yuffie: "(Giggles) Guess Leon found the whoopee cushion under his pillow. (Yawn) What time is it?"

Zero: "You actually did that? Anyways, it's 4:30 AM. Did he really just go to bed?"

Yuffie: "Probably. He said he'd be training for 7 hours a day at least, since the heartless are growing stronger. I guess he doesn't want to be out done by you and Sora. Oh, and yes I did do the whole pillow trick."

Zero: "He's probably gonna kill you now, you realize that."

Yuffie: "No, he's gonna kill Sora and his gang now. I copied the King's crest and put it on the whoopee cushion. He'll think they did it and not me."

Zero: "Smooth, slick, and sneaky. I like it."

Yuffie: "Thanks. So what do we do… sounds like you were right about Aerith and Cloud having fun tonight. I can hear them down the hall."

Zero: "…I thought so. I've seen plenty of couples to know when that kind of love is there."

Yuffie: "……Ever…actually experienced what love is?"

Zero: A little taken back. "Uh…no…not that kind, only the family kind of love. Why?"

Yuffie: "…Just curious. I've…never really experienced anything like that other than for my friends. I just wondered what it's like to love someone, ya know?"

Zero: "…There are several kinds of love. Love shared by family members, love of a friendship, and a romantic kind of love, a.k.a. Aerith and Cloud."

Yuffie: "Oh…Thanks for clearing that up for me."

Zero: "No problem. Love is very complicated. What do we do now?"

Yuffie: "I'm gonna take a shower. After that, do you wanna go to the synthesis shop? We should have enough ingredients for some good accessories after yesterday's big haul."

Zero: "Sounds like a plan to me. But lets head out the ally way, it's quicker."

Yuffie: "Alright then. I'll be ready in a few." After Yuffie took her shower, the two of them got dressed and left through the balcony door. They jumped off the balcony, landed on the ground, ran over to the stacked up pile of crates, jumped over them, and landed in the first district. From there they walked to the shop and stopped at the door to listen to see if anyone was awake.

Moogle: "Oh come on! We're so close. All we need are a few more Lucid Crystals and we can make a Crystal Crown to finish our synthesize item exhibit." It then heard a knock at the door. "Who could that be at 5 in the morning?" He opened the door to see Zero leaning against a wall and Yuffie standing in front of him.

Yuffie: "You guys open now, or should we come back later?"

Moogle: "…Yes we're open. Come in." They walked in and Yuffie picked up an item menu while Zero got out a list of supplies they had. The Moogle sees the list. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have any Lucid Crystals to spare, would you?"

Zero: "Let me check…… Yeah, we have 9, I guess we could spare some. We were hoping to get 3 Crystal Crowns, but you can have some. You guys do all the work, so I guess its ok."

Moogle: "Thank you so much. We're trying to make a synthesis item exhibit for the shop downstairs. All we need is 3 Lucid Crystals to make a Crown and finish the exhibit."

Yuffie: "Really? I can't wait to see it."

Moogle: "Yes, we're all very excited about it. Is there anything we can make for you two?"

Zero: "How's about…2 Crystal Crowns and 3 Ultima Weapons. You can make the Crowns first if it helps."

Moogle: "Coming right up!" about 30 minutes later, Yuffie and Zero walk out with their items and quietly went into the second district.

Yuffie: "Um…Zero…can I ask you a personal question?"

Zero: "Go ahead, doesn't mean I'll answer though."

Yuffie: "Oh, ok…What made you act the way you do? I mean at times you can be so cold hearted to people and yet, other times you can be a caring person. What made you act so cold?"

Zero: Shocked. "………… I'll tell you, but not here. Follow me." Zero ran to the right and jumped on a store sign, and using it as a spring board, jumped on the roof. He then went into the third district through the open window up there. Yuffie followed. When she caught up to him, she saw him sitting on the balcony railing. She sat next to him.

Zero: "……… It all started about 10 years ago, when I was 7. I had everything. A caring mother and father, aunts, uncles, cousins, and even a sometimes annoying but lovable sister. My father was a bit of a samurai where my mother was a ninja. They taught me and my sister how to fight and defend ourselves. We had good life's, we were even rich. Everything was perfect, that is… until that bastard came in and held my sister and I for ransom. He never got it. Using what we learned, we escaped him. As you can imagine, he was furious. Being a crime lord, he then killed everyone in my family, except my sister and I."

Yuffie: Shocked. "…My god…"

Zero: "No, wait, it gets better. For a year, social services kept moving us to different families. We always got returned. Something was always wrong with us. Finally a family took us in, but wouldn't ya know it. They wanted our money and treated us like crap. We tried to tell social services this, but they didn't believe us. We were only little kids, how were we to know when someone was abusing us for our money. (Sigh) We did the only thing we could. Grabbed our things, some food, some money, and hightailed it out of there. About a month later we checked what was happening with our account. (He clenches his fists tightly.) Our foster family had killed two other kids and said it was us. Social services believed them, and legally gave those bastards our entire account. (His hands begin to bleed.)There was nothing we could do about it."

Yuffie: Tears in her eyes. "…No…" She whispered.

Zero: "Yeah. Like I said, there was nothing we could do. My sister, Amara, and I spent the next 3 years on the streets. When we ran out of food and money, we began to steal, but only from those who looked like they could afford to lose some cash. We still kept our swords and shuriken our parents had given us. We rarely had to use them, we kept them hidden under our cloths, just in case. But one day, Amara didn't come back to the warehouse we called home. Two days passed and still no sign of her. I began searching for her. On day 3, I found her in an ally way. Bloody cuts and bruises covered her naked body. Her sword was shoved through her chest right into the wall… (He lowers his head. Tears fall from his face.) She was dead. I left her body at the police station. I kept her sword, and after cleaning it, went to track down who killed her. After a month of searching, I finally found them. They were bragging about how they raped and tortured her before they killed her. It took all my will power to show them mercy. I made their deaths quick, but painful."

Yuffie: Crying. "Oh god, please no…"

Zero: "It was around that time that I changed my name to Zero. I thought it would be fitting because I didn't have anything left to live for. Now here's the most interesting part. Not an hour after I killed those bastards, the heartless arrived and started attacking everything and everyone in sight. I took it upon myself to protect the city I lived in. I actually did a good job at it. For 6 months I battled the heartless and kept them from getting a single heart from anyone in the city. It was then that that witch Maleficent came came to Earth personally, to see who was single handedly holding her entire army off from taking a small city. I only saw her for 5 seconds before I blacked out."

Yuffie: "…What happened next."

Zero: "Maleficent took me from Earth. She cast obedient spells upon me and made me her apprentice. I trained in the arts of magic, swordsmanship, and ninjitsue. She even gave me the power to control small heartless. I didn't have much time to practice that ability. It was that night that I was given my first assignment. Conquer some world. I would have done it to, except that that night, Amara visited me in my dreams. We held a strong bond. You can call me crazy, but it really was her. I know because she freed me from Maleficent's control, and gave me this." He holds out his hand, after a few seconds of sparking, a Keyblade appears.

Yuffie: "A Keyblade!"

Zero: "Yeah, a Keyblade. She said it was always meant for me. It works differently than Sora's Keyblade. Mine works on the 2 barriers around each world. The one that keeps good from entering, and the one that keeps evil from entering. It's power is currently useless considering the heartless can break those was down easily. Back to my story, I then woke up and knew what I had to do. I grabbed Ansem report I copied along with this wrist watch computer and the heartless index. I escaped in my own gummi ship. Maleficent has been after me ever since. She can track me from the darkness she inserted inside me. The rest is history."

Yuffie: Crying. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I shouldn't have brought up those painful memories."

Zero: Lifts her chin to face him. He gently wipes a tear from her face and looks her in the eyes. "It's ok. I needed to get this off my chest anyways. Thank you, Yuffie." Unknown to them, Leon, who was right underneath them, slowly walked toward the first district door and left them alone, with more to think about now more than ever.

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How was that. Sappy, I know, but come on. Anyways, please review. Thanks.


	5. 5 Pegesus Cup, Attack, and Amara?

**Kingdom Hearts**

**The Wandering Keyblade Master**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Squaresoft, Disney, Final Fantasy, etc. All original ideas belong to me, those who want to use any of my characters must ask permission first, and probably will get it.**

**Chapter 5: Pegasus Cup, attack, and Amara?**

It was a good 30 minutes till Yuffie and Zero could get a hold of themselves. After doing so, they just sat on the balcony railing, staring at the stars.

Yuffie: "…Hey, do you hear something?"

Zero: "Yeah, it sounds like it's coming from Cid's house. Let's hide." They both crouch under the railing on the balcony, and Zero takes something from his watch from his watch and places it on the balcony side toward Cid's house. He activates his watch and a holographic image appears, showing what was happening by Cid's house.

Yuffie: Whispers. "Well aren't you a regular James Bond."

Zero: Whispers back. "Not exactly, I don't 'sleep sleep' with every girl I see."

Yuffie: "…Hey, something's happening down there." The door opened and Cid, along with some woman came out. Cid was fiddling with his pants belt and the woman was straightening her skirt. Yuffie's and Zero's eyes widened as they put two and two together. The woman says something to Cid, and with a quick peck on the cheek, went into the second district. Cid stood there for a moment and then went into the first district. Yuffie and Zero looked at each other for a second, and then Yuffie said "…This is big. Very big. No, this is huge. I've waited years for this kind of dirt on him. Now I can finally pay him back for that dirty trick he played on me."

Zero: "I would say not to use this on him to soon, but I would like to know what that trick he pulled on you was."

Yuffie: "It was when I was 10. He was being really mean to me, so I wanted revenge. I went to the item shop and got a bottle of instant diarrhea liquid. When Aerith asked me to bring something to drink, I read the instructions and put in enough to last for two weeks. I took the beer to him and, well, long story short it…um…backfired." She blushes.

Zero: "Ouch."

Yuffie: "Yeah. The end result is everyone around here treating me like a kid. Those two weeks were the most humiliating part of my life ever."

Zero: "…We really need to think of some way to pay them back then. The footage is a start, but we need something more."

Yuffie: "I got it. For Aerith, I'll just take her cloths and dye them red. Nothing that can't be fixed too badly. For Cid though, we need something else, not as dirty though."

Zero: "Or maybe even dirtier. After he closes shop, we rig a trap on the door. Who ever enter it first will be covered in blue paint. What do ya think of that, huh?"

Yuffie: Smiles evilly. "Perfect." Zero grins evilly as well.

Zero: "Wow, look at the time. It's almost 8:30. Time flies when you're coming up with pranks and telling stories."

Yuffie: "Yeah, really. Let's get over to the cafe before anyone starts suspecting anything." Yuffie and Zero proceeded to jump of the balcony and enter the first district. They notice Leon and Cid were there, and walked over.

Yuffie: "Hey guys, what's up?"

Leon: Dully "Me..."

Zero: "You don't look so good. You get enough sleep or did those two keep you up?"

Leon: "Those two. And Sora left a whoopee cushion under my pillow didn't help out any either."

Cid: "Sounds like something Yuffie would do."

Leon: "My first thought. But Yuffie isn't a good artist, and there's no other place she could have gotten that cushion except the king's castle. It has his kingdom's crest on it."

Yuffie: "See, I'm not the only one around here who can pull a prank."

Zero: "Why don't you pay him back at the Coliseum? The Pegasus Cup will be starting soon, so you can get revenge and check on everyone's progress."

Leon: "Perhaps we should go. You and Cloud can protect the town easily enough, I guess." He said while fingering his gunblade.

Yuffie: "Alright, I can't wait." About 3 hours later, Aerith and Cloud finally got up and went to the cafe. They got there just as Leon and Yuffie were leaving.

Aerith: "Hey wait, where are you two going?"

Yuffie: "We're heading over to the Coliseum to win the Pegasus Cup. We'll be back either later tonight or tomorrow morning. See ya then." Yuffie then ran out the town's exit.

Aerith: "...I guess we have the day to ourselves Cloud."

Zero: "Don't let me stop you from having your fun." He said walking up behind them.

Aerith: Jumps in surprise. "Don't do that!"

Zero: "Sorry, it's just in my nature to sneak up on people. Been doing it for years so I can't help it."

Aerith: "Fine. Care to join us for an early lunch?"

Zero: "Sure, why not." They sit down at a table and order their meals. Soon their drinks come and the three of them begin to chat.

Cloud: "Chocolate milk huh, never would have expected that from a guy like you."

Zero: "It's one of my favorite drinks. Besides, it reminds me of the good old days when I still had a family."

Cloud: "Taken by the heartless?"

Zero: "I wish. Everyone in my family has been murdered at one point or another, long before the heartless invaded my world."

Aerith: "No, that's terrible!"

Zero: "You have no idea. My family was rich, therefore making my sister, Amara, and I targets to a certain crime lord. He kidnapped us, but by using what our parents taught us we managed to get away. My mother was a ninja while my father was a samurai. When that bastard found out we escaped, he used all his resources to kill everyone in our family. Our parents, Aunts and Uncles, Grandparents, and cousins, we were the only ones left." Takes a long sip from his glass. "I was 7 at the time, Amara was 6 and1/2. Stupid Social services had us shipped from family to family. We were always returned. We finally found a family that agreed to keep us for good about a year later."

Aerith: "Finally some good news."

Zero: "Wrong. They treated us like dirt and tried to take our money. Social services didn't believe our story, so Amara and I ran away. We grabbed some food, money, cloths, our family heirlooms, and ran away. You know what our foster family did?" Aerith and Cloud shook their heads. "They went and killed two kids who looked like us, and said it was us. Social services didn't even test the bodies; they legally gave our fortune to them."

Cloud: "Those bastards."

Zero: "My thoughts exactly. Amara and I spent the next 3 years on the streets, stealing to get by. One day, Amara didn't come back. I searched for days until I found her naked body covered in cuts, bruises, and blood. Her sword was stabbed through her chest into the ally wall. She was dead. I took her things, dropped her body off at the police station and went to find her killers."

Cloud: "Did you find them?"

Zero: "Yeah, about 3 days after I found her body. Just one look at those guys and you could tell they were rung through the ringer by Amara, before they… They bragged about how they raped and tortured her before…killing her. They paid with their lives. Funny enough, not an hour had passed since I killed those guys, that the heartless invaded my city. I defended the city for 6 months. Then Maleficent personally came to Earth and knocked me out. She took me to Hollow Bastion and, after casting obedience spells on me, made me her apprentice."

Aerith: "You were Maleficent's apprentice?"

Zero: "Yes, but not by choice, mind you. I spent about 3 years with Maleficent. The first year was the only year she personally taught me anything. She taught me all 3 levels of the spells Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Cure, Aero, Gravity, Time, Aqua, Flare, Barrier, and Teleportation. After that, she let me do as I pleased. I studied magic a little longer and learned how to upgrade to levels 4 and element master. I call it master because it's just that, having mastery over an element."

Cloud: "Sounds difficult to do."

Aerith: "I didn't even know about those levels."

Zero: "Had to turn the library upside down to find those books. Maleficent wasn't exactly pleased with the mess, though." He cringed. "I have mastery over Thunder, Wind, Gravity, and Time. I had to use my mastery of time to rewind and tidy up the place. From then on I went about studying the heartless, and even training with them. Over time, I began to understand them, who they were, what language they spoke… they trusted me and I trusted them."

Aerith: "You can understand the heartless?"

Zero: Nods. "I have a wizard to thank for that. He was unusual from the others, that's why the other wizards tended to beat on him." He takes out the heartless index, flips through till he gets a picture of a Wizard. "You see how its outfit is different shades of purple? Well change the dark purple to a shiny silver and the same with its wand. We were what you'd call best friends."

Cloud: "How can a heartless change their color?"

Zero: "Can't really say for sure. Who knows, we might see a pink soldier soon as well." They all laugh. "But now that I think, Silver might have fused with the Shiny Crystal that Wizards are said to carry. That could explain his looks, strengths and abilities are increasingly better than any of the others. But like I said, I can't be certain."

Aerith: "Who's Silver?"

Zero: "I named that silver Wizard Silver. It was either that or Freddy." Cloud chuckles. "But seriously, I named him to tell the difference from the other Wizards, obvious or not. Silver really was different from other heartless. He actually experienced emotion, he had feelings, but above all he didn't like taking innocent people's hearts.

Cloud: "A heartless with a heart, eh." He musses.

Zero: "Well put. Silver did take hearts from wicked and evil people, but besides that, he wasn't interested in causing mayhem, death, and destruction." It was at this time that their meals arrived. They all had lunch, paid for their meals, and went their separate ways. Zero went to second district to train, while Cloud and Aerith went to help Cid and Moogles set up their synthesized item exhibit.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Riku stood in a dark void. He had no idea where he was. Images of his past started replaying in front of him. His island, quality time with Kairi, building the raft, Kairi and Sora, sparring matches, races, it suddenly stopped. An image of Kairi walked up to him.

Kairi: "Riku, I could never love you. Just looking at you makes me sick."

Riku: Shocked. "Kairi, why?"

Kairi: "Look at yourself. Your lost in darkness. Only someone with the Keyblade can see the light, and win my love. That's Sora."

Riku: Falls to his knees. "Please Kairi, give me a chance! I can get the Keyblade from Sora! Please!"

Kairi: "So your just going to steal it, huh? Mayb-" She suddenly disappears.

Riku: "Kairi!" He suddenly appears on Destiny Island. Looking up from the beach, he sees a girl sitting in his place on the mini-island. He rushes up to her. "Who are you?" The girl stands up and turns to face him. She has violet eyes, and sea green hair tied back into a pony-tail, wore a blue headband to keep all but two pieces of her hair to hang down her pale, heart shaped face. She was about as tall as Riku, and wore an emerald green shirt without sleeves, and a matching colored pair of sweat pants. (Think Mariam from the Beyblade V-force, but in Zero's outfit.)

Girl: "My name is Amara. Right bow we're in a dream of your's. The only things real are you and me."

Riku: "Ok Amara, what's this all about?"

Amara: "You're being manipulated. Maleficent is just using you to get what she wants."

Riku: "…I don't care. As long as I get Kairi, I don't care what happens."

Amara: "Stupid. But, then again you don't know. Kairi is one of the seven princesses of heart, one of the people Maleficent intends to sacrifice."

Riku: "What?"

Amara: "It's true. Maleficent only helps those that she can benefit from. She… she used my brother that way. I helped him escape, but it took a lot out of me. In stead of coming back to life then, I'll be back tomorrow, several year difference."

Riku: "You mean you're…"

Amara: "Yes, I'm dead for the time being, just a spirit. It's thanks to this," she holds out her hand and a green Keyblade appears, "That I'll come back."

Riku: "A Keyblade? But how? I mean, I thought that Sora had the only one."

Amara: Smiles. "To each their own. As of now, my brother, Zero, myself, and you are the only Keyblade Masters. You've yet to get your real Keyblade. Soon though." She walks over to the paopu tree and takes a paopu off. "On a different note, I've heard there was something special about this fruit. Mind telling me what it does?"

Riku: Smirks. "What, the all knowing Keyblade Master doesn't know the legend? Not al-" He gets cut off as Amara throws the paopu in his face. "Oww! You got quite an arm for a girl." She glares at him. "Right…um, the legend is that if two people, who really care about each other, share a paopu, their destinies become intertwine with one another… what's with the evil grin?"

Amara: Still grinning evilly. "Nothing, I just have some plans for some friends of mine." She then takes several paopu fruits from the tree and puts them in a bag.

Riku: "Can you take the paopu fruit with you, even if this is a dream?"

Amara: Kind smile. "Yes." The area around them starts flashing. "Seems like you're waking up. Guess it's time to say goodbye." She starts walking away.

Riku: "Wait!" She stops and turns to face him. "Will I ever see you again?"

Amara: Walks up to him. "Not here. But I get the feeling we'll meet in person real soon. Until then," She leans forward and gives him a gentle kiss on the cheek, "See ya." A white flash of light emits and Riku finds himself in a bed on Captain Hook's ship.

Riku: "…Was that for real?"

Maleficent: "Something vexes thee, child?" Riku jumps. He notices Maleficent is on the other side of the room. Lying on the couch next to her was…

Riku: "Kairi!" He runs over to her. When she doesn't wake up, he knows something is wrong. He thinks for a moment before saying, "So, Kairi's like a lifeless puppet now?"

Maleficent: "Yes."

Riku: "And her hearts been…"

Maleficent: "Taken by the heartless, no doubt."

Riku: "Is there anyway to get it back?"

Maleficent: "Yes, there is a door. It requires the 7 princesses of heart to open. Behind it lies untold wisdom. There you are sure to find a way to get her heart back. Now allow me to bestow upon you a wonderful gift. The power to control the heartless!"

Riku: Flashes green for a few second. He then turns around and says, "Soon Kairi, soon."

Maleficent: Notices something on Riku's face. "What's on your face, boy?" She twirls a finger in the air, and a small mirror appears.

Riku: Turns around and sees lipstick in the form of a kiss on his face. 'What the… wait a second didn't Amara kiss me there? Does that mean the dream was real?' "It looks like a kiss mark. But I didn't have this when I fell asleep."

Maleficent: "It was probably Hook. That pervert, must have gone through my make-up kit again."

Hook: Walks in. "Did I hear my name? Did you need anything milady?" He kneels down and kisses the back of Maleficent's hand. Maleficent growls at him, and with a wave of her hand, sets the back of Hooks pants on fire.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

About a week had passed by. Leon and Yuffie had beaten Sora and co. 5 times before they beat them 3 times, 1 in each tournament mode. When Leon confirmed this, Zero gave Donald a Wizard's Relic, Goofy a Defender's Shield, and Sora an Ultima Weapon. Sora was currently off in Atlantica. Meanwhile at Traverse Town…

Zero: "Ok Yuffie. I'm going to teach you a magic spell that will allow you to change the colors of any type of clothing."

Yuffie: Holding a Wizard's Relic. "Why am I doing this again?"

Zero: "You wanted to dye Aerith's cloths red, right? I'll help, but I'm not going anywhere near her dresser. I'd rather not be seen as a pervert."

Yuffie: "Wow, I didn't think anything could scare the great Keyblade Master." Smirks.

Zero: "…Repeat after me. 'Repon Mador'."

Yuffie: Pouts for a moment. "… Repon Mador." The wand begins to glow.

Zero: Takes out a blue cloth. "Good. After saying Repon Mador, you simply say the color you want to change the object to. Now say red." Drops the cloth. It starts fluttering to the ground.

Yuffie: Aims at cloth. "Red." A small red flash emits and the cloth lands on the ground, now red.

Zero: "Perfect. Now all we need is to figure out a way to get you in Aerith's room without being seen or interrupted."

Yuffie: "I'm one step ahead of ya. We're all going to diner together tonight, right? Well I'll just say that I have a stomach ache and that I would rather rest for the night. You can bring me something to eat later."

Zero: "Beautiful. Just wait 15 minutes after everyone leaves. Just incase someone forgot something."

Yuffie: "Alright then. Let's do it." The plan went off without a hitch. Aerith fell for the fake stomach ache and let Yuffie stay in Zero's room, while everyone else went to diner. Once everyone finished up, Zero took some leftovers and put them in a to go bag. He then started walking back to the hotel the long way, through the third district. His senses were telling him something was not right, and he wanted to find out what it was. When he entered the third district, at first he didn't see anything. Then he noticed a figure to his right, hidden in the shadows.

Zero: Puts the bag down and readies his swords. "Who's there?" The figure walked out of the shadows to reveal herself as Yuffie. Zero gave a sigh of relief, and got into a relaxed position. "You made me nervous Yuffie. What are you doing here? If you're not at the hotel when the others get back, they'll be suspicious." Yuffie only smiled and walked up to Zero seducivelly. Zero began to sweat.

Yuffie: "…I don't care. There's something I need to tell you." She then closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Zero: "Y-Yuffie?" Yuffie moves her head closer to Zero's until their foreheads are resting against each other.

Yuffie: Looks Zero straight in the eyes. "Midesmalite." No sooner had the words left her mouth, a green and black fire-ish beam of light shot out of her eyes and straight into Zero's eyes.

Zero: "**AAAARRRRGGGHHH!**" Zero screams out in pain as the light burns his eyes. Yuffie lets him drop to the ground and watches him squirm in pain. She laughs a wicked laugh that slowly changes to a voice Zero knew all to well. Zero's head shoots up and he struggle to stand. He tries opening his eyes, but only sees green and black fire while feeling immense pain. He quickly closes them and pulls out his swords. "MALEFICENT! You Witch! What have you done to my eyes!"

Maleficent: "Simple revenge my sweet child. After I saved your life from that world, trained you into the warrior you are now, and took care of you when you were ill, how do you repay me? You run away and disrupt all of my plans for galactic domination! Your sight is only the first of many punishments I have in store for you BOY!" With that said, she lifts Zero into the air with her magic and sends him crashing through the brick wall into first district. The people there start screaming and running to find some where to hide but, to their horror, Defenders, Darkballs, Wizards, Wyverns, and Invisibles block their way and start stealing all the hearts they can get. Yuffie, Cloud, Leon, and Aerith arrive and see the chaos. Aerith has her hands over her mouth, looking terrified at the scene before her. She takes a step back. Leon, Cloud and Yuffie stare in shock at what was happening. Cloud is the first to snap out of the transe. He powers up into his demon form, a black devil wing emerging from his left shoulder, black and gold sparks appear all over his body. Cloud the charges into the chaos with a battle cry. Yuffie and Leon follow shortly after. By the café, a mount of ruble is blown away revealing a shirtless Zero, swords in hand.

Zero: "MALEFICENT! IF YOU THINK TAKING MY SIGHT AWAY WILL MAKE THIS ANY EASIER ON YOU, THEN YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER THING COMING!" With that said, Zero used his mastery of Wind and Thunder to create a gold aura around himself, sparks of blue electricity emitting around his body. Zero then charged through the battle field, cutting down any heartless he came across, sensing them from his mastery of Wind. He finally fought his way to where Maleficent was standing and leaped towards her. To Maleficent's surprise, Zero sheathed his swords and made his Keyblade appear in his hands. Just a meter away from Maleficent, Zero switched the keychain to a gold star, which changed the key part of the Keyblade into a gold flaming plasma blade (Think Red Lotus Saber from Mega Man X Command Mission game). Zero takes his flaming blade and does a diagonal slash attack on Maleficent, who blocks it with her staff. As they strained to overpower each other, Zero's gold aura clashed with Maleficent's green and black aura.

Maleficent: "You surprise me, boy. I thought there was only one Keyblade in existence."

Zero: "Kinda like how I thought you smelled like dirty socks. You actually smell more like toe nails!" At this, Maleficent screeches out and overpowers Zero. Zero loses his aura and Maleficent's magic fire engulfs him. He cries out in pain as he is burned all over his body. He is then blasted across the battle field into the café wall, Maleficent following until she reached the café entrance. She smirks at Zero's now burnt and motionless body. The Keyblade in his hand sparkles gold before disappearing completely. Maleficent starts to walk towards Zero, until she is hit with a drop kick to the face from Yuffie. She staggers back holding her now bleeding nose.

Yuffie: "You want Zero, you got to go through me." Leon and Cloud see what's happening and try to help, but are forced back by the heartless. Then, much to everyone's surprise, Yuffie takes two magically charged shuriken and slams them together, forming a magic energy sword. Aerith and Leon's jaws drop, Cloud has a surprised look on his face. Yuffie smirks at everyone's reaction, that is, until she sees a giant meteor heading straight for her. She screams and tries to attack it, but the meteor breaks her magic sword and slams into her. She cries out in pain as she is flung into the wall. She slides down the wall, landing next to Zero.

Maleficent: "NO ONE TOUCHES MY FACE AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!" She then launched a flaming meteor straight at Yuffie. Yuffie can't move. She closes her eyes and prepares for the pain, but instead hears someone else scream and feels a body land on top of her. Yuffie opens her eyes and sees Zero's broken body on top of her.

Yuffie: "NOOOO!" She, using the wall for support, flips Zero onto his back, and gently shakes him, trying to wake him up. She sees his eye lids move a little. He coughs up some blood. "WHY!" she yells, tears streaming down her face.

Zero: Almost a whisper, "It'll…leave a…mark……and scars……don't look good………on girls, heh heh…………" His body goes limp. Yuffie tries to wake him, but fails. Yuffie then holds Zero's broken body against herself, crying on his shoulder.

Maleficent: "………Damn it. He got away. I didn't want him to die yet." Suddenly, a sea green blur of light slams down in front of her, knocking her back a few steps. The green glow spreads throughout Traverse Town, incinerating any heartless in its path, and restoring the towns condition back to the way it was before the attack. Then, to everyone's shock, a sun began to rise over the horizon. Had anyone looked where the light came from, they would have seen a green hair girl swinging a Keyblade into Maleficent's face. Maleficent cried out in pain and fell over. The green hair girl was non other than Amara.

Amara: "I won't let you hurt them or this town anymore." With that, she raised her Keyblade in the air. A green aura surround Amara, Yuffie, and Zero. They started to faze in and out of view.

Maleficent: "NO! You won't escape me!" Maleficent tackled Amara just as Amara teleported herself, Yuffie, and Zero to another world, taking Maleficent with them.

Just then, the door to Traverse Town opened up, and Sora and co. walked in, looking up at the sunrise.

Sora: "Whoa, what happened?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sorry it took so long to update. Blame it on the school regents and finals. I've got the whole story mapped out, it's just a matter of typing it, and how many reviews I get. Thanks.


	6. 6 New world, and Silver?

**Kingdom Hearts**

**The Wandering Keyblade Master**

It has come to my attention that some people may like this story better if it is not written in script form. So, I'm going to write this chapter the same way I wrote the first one in. If people review that they prefer my story in that style, then I shall continue writing like that. Thank you.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Squaresoft, Disney, Final Fantasy, etc. All original ideas belong to me, those who want to use any of my characters must ask permission first, and probably will get it.**

**Chapter 6: New World and Silver?**

They were traveling through a vortex of energy in some kind of bubble. Yuffie was still holding Zero, while Amara tried to kick Maleficent off her and maintain the bubble at the same time. Maleficent was currently trying to strangle Amara, but couldn't get a grip on her neck, so she settled for yanking her hair.

"THAT'S IT!" Amara screamed. Amara released her hold on the bubble for a brief second, just long enough to cast an Aquaga spell, which threw Maleficent into the vortex. Unfortunately, during the brief time she released the bubble, Yuffie got separated from Zero. Try as she might, she couldn't get back into the reforming bubble, even with Amara's help. Yuffie fell through the vortex for what seemed like forever, but was really 5 minutes, before she landed on a hard wooden floor. After lying still for a moment she raised her head up and tried to look around. From what she could see, she landed in someone's patio on a cliff. After crawling to the railing, she discovered that she was actually the top of an eerie looking fortress. Suddenly, Yuffie felt herself being picked up off the ground by her hair. She was still very weak from her fight against Maleficent, so all she could do is give a soft whimper.

"Who are you? And how did you past through my fortress without detection? This is your only chance to respond." Said a deep and threatening voice.

"…Teleport…Magic…"Yuffie whispered. The man holding Yuffie released her, letting her drop to the ground. Yuffie's vision was blurry, but she looked up at man in front of her. He was large, wore dark robes like royalty would. He wore a gold crystal on the middle of his forehead. What was unique about this man was that his skin was a murky green, and had orange colored hair and beard.

"How very…interesting. No one has ever snuck into the Forsaken Fortress by magic without my detecting it. Let us see what you are not telling me." This time, the man lifted Yuffie up by her midsection, while holding the top of her head in his left hand. Had she been able to see his hand, she would have seen three golden triangles, all touching by their tips, appear on back of his hand. She did feel, however, a strange force enter her mind, searching through her memories. It hurt, a lot. She would have screamed, but in her weakened condition she could only sob softly. By the time he was through with her, Yuffie was barely conscious. The man moved his head closer to Yuffie's ear and whispered, "My my, we have been busy, haven't we? However, no one enters my fortress without consequences. I will, however, give you the benefit of knowing who I am. My name is _Ganondorf, ruler of the dark realm._ And soon this whole world to! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" With that said, Ganondorf lifted Yuffie up over his head and threw her off the balcony. Yuffie fell at least four stories before hitting a stone floor, land on and breaking her back. Her eyes widened as the pain rippled through her body. The last thing she could see was a bright searchlight shining on her, before darkness covered her vision.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zero moaned as he awoke, finding himself in a bed. He opens his eyes only to see the green and black fire, and quickly shuts them. He feels bandages wrapped around his body, along with what he assumed to be ice.

"Well look who finally decided to wake up." Zero jumped as he recognized the voice, instantly regretting it as pain shot throughout his body. "Hey take it easy big bro. You're still hurt from that fight against Maleficent. That witch, she used some kind of mystic fire on you, not even my mastery of healing could heal your burn wounds. (Sigh) This is a great way to come back to life, take care of my big brother while Yuffie is who knows where." Zero rose quickly after hearing about Yuffie, but cried out in pain as the burns took their toll on his body. Amara pushed him down on to the bed. "I thought I said don't move. You're blind, not deaf, and even that is temporary."

"Is that really you Sis?" Zero whispered, tears rolling down his face.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm alive now, thanks to the power of my Keyblade. Just to fill you in, I teleported the two of us plus Yuffie to another world. Maleficent tried to stop me, she even pulled my hair, that witch! The next time I see her, she is going to get the a-" Zero coughs. "Oh, sorry about that. Anyways, during the teleport sequence we ended up getting separated from Maleficent and Yuffie. I hit Maleficent with an Aquaga spell, so she shouldn't be a problem, for now anyways. Yuffie dropped in another direction, so where ever she is, Maleficent isn't near her." She hears Zero sigh in relief. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've got a crush on Yuffie big bro."

Zero's face turns red. "N-No I don't! It's just that…(Sigh) Yuffie has been through quite a lot, almost as much as we have. And yet, she still has the same innocence that a little kid would have, also a bit of a devil side too, but that's beside the point. Someone like that deserves to be protected from anything that could change her drastically. I don't want anything bad happening to her, they're not many people like that in existence. She's almost one of a kind really… you can stop your fake tears any time Amara."

"That's not me. I'll be right back." Amara hurries down a ladder to the ground floor of a small hut. She creeps over to where an old woman sits, moaning in her sleep.

"…Oh Link…Aryll…please don't go…don't leave your…poor old grandma alone……" the old woman moaned.

"…Poor thing. Don't worry, Link will be home before sunrise. I promise you that." Amara whispers in her ear. She goes back up to Zero. "Big brother, you should rest for now. It will be a while till the soup is ready, and you need to save your strength. I'm going to be outside, ok? The old woman down stairs, that kindly let us stay in her house, her grandson will be arriving soon. I'm going to meet him." She went down the ladder and outside. She was about to walk onto the patio, but she decided to walk along the beach instead. A storm was raging in the distance, but she didn't care. She took her boots and socks off and stepped into the water, relishing the feeling of sand between her wet toes. It brought her back to a time when her family went on a picnic on a beach to the Pacific Ocean, and she cherished that memory, as it was one of the few she had before her life took a turned for the worst, and ended for that matter. She spent five minutes relaxing as the waves washed away her troubles for the time being. Soon, though, a red boat with a lion head at the front, appeared. It sailed until it reached the docks, and a boy, maybe 11 years old, wearing a green tunic and cap, a belt, an old and rusted shield, and a sword on his back, got out of the boat. The odd thing about this was that the lion head seemed to be talking to the boy. Amara sighed, knowing what she must now do, walked back on shore, got her socks and boots back on, and walked over to the boy. "Excuse me, Link, is it?" This caught the boy's attention and made him wonder who this stranger was and how she knew his name. "My name is Amara. My brother and I are staying at your grandma's house until my brother get better, that's how I know your name."

"…Ok…I'm just going to go see her now, it's been so long since I last saw her, so if you'll excuse me." Link replied. He starts walking past Amara until he feels a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait a second Link. Your grandmother is ill. Ever since you and your sister left the island, all she ever does is sleep. She doesn't eat, and she worries about you two every day. You should visit Sturgeon, the old man in that house over there. He can tell you how to help your grandma. I've tried to help her, but my brother is hurt really bad. I'm really sorry to say this, but I just don't have time to find a cure for her condition right now." Amara said with remorse clearly recognized in her voice.

Wide eyed. "Oh…I see…well thanks for looking after her for me…while I couldn't." Link said, and then mumbles, "Just like how I couldn't help Aryll."

"You're welcome, and don't worry about your sister, there was nothing you could have done to stop that overgrown pigeon from taking her, period. You'll get her back, I know you will." Amara said.

"Thank you." Link whispers. He then runs of to Sturgeon's house to find out how to help his grandma. Amara just stands there, deep in thought, until a voice brings her back to reality.

"You seem capable a healing her yourself. I sense a strange power emitting from you. Why would you not help the young hero's grandma?" Red Lion (The boat) asked.

Amara turns to face the boat. "One of the universal rules about being a Keyblade Master, you must not meddle in the affairs of those in other worlds, no matter how much you want to. My brother really is hurt, that's why we came here in the first place. To get away from the heartless and heal before we continue fighting them again."

"You are a Keyblade Master?" Red Lion asked, its eyes glowing. (A boat can't have wide eyes, so I did the next best thing.)

"Hard to believe, huh. My brother is one as well. Before you ask, the heartless are a race a beings that have lost their hearts and steal other peoples hearts. They also steal an entire planet's heart, thus making it disappear, along with anything on it. The keyhole to this world's heart, I believe is in Hyrule. It should be in the Master Sword room. Luckily, my Keyblade has the power to lock the keyhole, as will Zero's once I get the chance to modify it." Amara stated.

"…I see. Tell me, do all the Keyblade Masters know each world's story?" Red Lion asked.

"No, I've been dead for a few years, so I've had some free time on my hands to study other world's histories." Amara stated in a 'matter-of-fact' voice.

"…I can't say I understand completely, but I have an idea of what you mean……will the heartless try to stop you here?" Red Lion asked.

"I hope not, but if they do, then Zero, Yuffie and I will be able to help you guys out. The loophole in that universal rule is that if something disrupts worldly affairs, the Keyblade Master may get involved to set thing back on track, or as close as possible." Amara said, smiling at the boat.

"I can understand that now. Perhaps the goddesses will find a safe way for you to help save this world." Red Lion said.

"Only time will tell."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You mean Maleficent attacked while I was gone! But why?" Everyone was at Cid's house and Traverse gang just finished telling Sora and co. what happened.

"She was after Zero because he betrayed her after she forced him to work for her. But what I still don't know is where that sun came from or where Yuffie, Zero, and that girl went to." Leon stated.

"Well I don't know about our friends there, but I saw the sun from that there coliseum world move round to this side." Goofy said.

"He's right. The sun just moved for something. I still don't believe it." Donald said, crosses his arms as everyone sweat drops.

"One thing's for sure, if we want to go to the coliseum from here, we need the warp drive, or travel through Wonderland and Deep Jungle worlds." Sora said.

"That still doesn't tell us where Yuffie and Zero are! They were both injured from the fight. Yuffie might be alive but Zero, he looked like he was about to…to..." Aerith said franticly before Cloud takes Aerith into his arms and holds her while she cries on his chest. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looks at the floor, Leon just leans against the wall with his arms crossed and eyes closed, Cid chews on his straw. A knock on the door brings everyone out of their thoughts. Leon walks over to window to see who it is. His eyes widen at what he sees and he grabs his gunblade.

"It's some strange looking heartless. I'll take care of it."

"Wait a sec. what do you mean strange?" Sora asked.

"I mean strange because it looks like a Wizard but is silver, that's what I mean." Leon stated, before walking over to the door. He was about to open it when…

"Wait Leon, don't hurt it!" Aerith yells. Leon turns to face her, wide eyed.

"What are you saying Aerith? It's a heartless, an odd one, but a heartless nun the less. We must kill it before it takes anymore innocent lives." Leon said with anger clearly visible in his eyes.

"Zero told us about this heartless. He said he grew up with him, and that he is completely different from regular heartless." Cloud states. Leon glares at him. "Fine, believe what you want, but I'm gonna trust Zero's word on this one. He doesn't seem like the type to make up a story like this." Cloud walked past Leon and opened the door. Silver was floating/leaning against the railing. Cloud cautiously took a step toward Silver. "Your name is Silver, right?" Silver's wand flashed for a brief moment, and a piece of paper appeared in front of Cloud. It said…

"Yes, my name is Silver. I'm gonna take a wild guess that Zero told you about me, right?" (From now on, instead of the wand flashing and paper appearing, Silver's text will be within these/ \"

Cloud smirks, before saying "You're right. Come on in, but be careful about the guy in black, he doesn't trust any heartless, or really anyone for that matter."

/ I understand. Thank you for trusting me. \ He walks, er, floats in, his wand facing the floor. Everyone tenses up. / What? Do I have something on my face? \ The straw in Cid's mouth drops to the floor, along with Leon's gunblade and everyone's jaws.

"A heartless…that can crack jokes! Since when did this happen?" Sora screams.

/ Relax people, I'm the only one. My name is Silver, nice to meet you. You'll have to forgive me if I don't shake anyone's hand. \ Aerith is the first to get over her shock.

Aerith smiles, before saying, "Ok Silver, my name is Aerith." She waits for the others to introduce themselves, but sighs when she sees they are still in shock. " The one who answered the door is Cloud, the man with the gunblade is Leon, the young man there is Sora the wielder of the Keyblade, the duck is Donald, the old man is Cid, and that guy is Goofy."

/ Ok, now what's his name? \ Silver points at Goofy. Aerith giggles. / Oh, oh, right, I gotcha. Anyways, from what I understand, you were friends with Zero, right?\

"Yes, we were, I mean we are. That is, if he's not…" Aerith trails off.

/ Relax, Zero, Amara, and the ninja are still alive, just in another world. \ That caught everyone's attention.

"Really?" Sora asked excited.

/ Yes, they are. Let me lay it out for you. \ He waves his wand and a star chart appears on the table. Everyone but Leon gathers around the table. / Here's the deal. Amara was teleporting them to another world, one the heartless have yet to touch, so they can heal in peace.\ Points to a blue star on the chart. / From what I saw, Maleficent messed her up a bit, but it cost her. Maleficent landed on this world right here. \ Points to a brown star on the map. / She land in a world I like to call 'The endless swamps', quite fitting if you ask me. The swamp monsters should keep her occupied for a while. Anyways the bad news is that… \ pulls out another map. / This is a chart of the area they landed. Zero and Amara land here \ points /on Outset Island. It's a peaceful village, so they'll be alright, given time. Yuffie however, she landed in the Forsaken Fortress, over here. \ points / The name pretty much describes it all. It's a nasty place where a lot of demons live, worse of all, Ganondorf, King of the Dark Realm. \ Everyone's face paled.

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Sorry it's a short chapter, next one will be longer. Till then.


	7. 7 Regroup

**Kingdom Hearts**

**The Wandering Keyblade Master**

Thanks to those that reviewed. I've decided to continue writing in the text everyone seems to like best. And for those of you who haven't guessed it already, the world Zero, Yuffie, and Amara are in is the game '_The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker_. Not many fanfics I've read have Zelda worlds in them, and the few that do, they don't have Wind Waker in them, so I decided to try it out. In this chapter, Yuffie starts to realize she has developed feelings for Zero, hope you enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Squaresoft, Disney, Final Fantasy, etc. All original ideas belong to me, those who want to use any of my characters must ask permission first, and probably will get it.**

**Chapter 7: Regroup**

Link trudged through the Forest of Fairies, cutting down anything in his path. Just 20 minutes ago, Link learned of his Grandma's condition, and went off in search of a few fairies to help heal her and that strange girl's, Amara, brother. After hacking down several more scrubs and a few large moth monsters called 'Mothula', he finally reached the giant boulder that covered the fairy fountain. He quickly took a small bomb from his bag, lit the fuse, set it at the foot of the boulder, and ran away as the bomb exploded, leaving the entrance wide open for anyone to use. He jumps down the hole and runs up to the fairy fountain. While in there, he meets the Great Fairy who not only heals his wounds and restores his strength, he also gets a rupee bag (money bag) that can carry 1000 rupees! After a short fair well, smaller fairies come out to greet him. Link catches two of them in two separate bottles. Running with glee, like the boy he is, at his success, he makes it back to his home within 5 minutes.

"Amara? Are you awake?" Link call's softly as he enters the house.

"Yeah, I'm awake. Do you have the fairy?" Amara askes.

"Yes, two of them. I got an extra one for your brother, since he is hurt too. That way, we both can get what we want." Link replies. Amara's eyes light up.

"Really? Oh Link, thank you so much! I didn't even think of doing that! I owe you one!" Amara answered.

"Catch!" Link tosses a bottle, which Amara catches with ease. "You go and heal your brother. I've got to help my grandmother." Link then walks over to his grandmother's side, where he takes the cork off the bottle, and let's the fairy heal his grandma. She stirs for a moment, before opening her eyes and seeing Link right next to her. She reaches out and at first just touches him, seeing if he was real or not. Then when she knew he was heal, she pulls him into a hug, which he full heartedly excepts and returns.

"Oh Link, you're back! Oh I've been so worried about you! I have to apologize Link, here you and Aryll are, trying to be brave while I sit here and waste away with worry and grief. I really should try to be brave like the two of you. Judging by the grim look on your face, I'd guess you still haven't rescued Aryll yet, have you?" Link nodded. "I thought so, I know you will stop at nothing to save her, but at least allow me the comfort of having you stay with me for just one night, ok?" Grandma asked.

"Well, I suppose I could, that is, if that's your Elixer Soup I smell?" Link asked, sniffing the air.

"(Laugh) Of course it is, and it's just about ready too! Go fetch Amara and Zero, there's plenty of soup to go around." Grandma said. But before Link had even turned around, Amara, supporting Zero on one shoulder, walked over and pulled up some chairs, bowls at the ready. Link and his Grandma laughed at their enthusiasm, and Grandma filled all of their bowls up with soup.

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"Damn, what I wouldn't give for a bowl of soup right now." Yuffie said to no one in particular. She was lying, or rather tied down on a bed, in some form of holding cell. 'Why did those idiots tie me up, anyways? It's not like I can move as is, much less attempt an escape. (Sigh) I wish Zero was here, he'd get us out of this easily enough… Unless he's… (She starts tearing up) NO! He can't have died! …Wait a second, why am I all torn up about him. We're just friends, barely knew each other for a month, it's not like I like him that way or anything like that. _Are you so sure? _(Groan) Not you again. Please just go away. _I think you're hurting more inside for him, rather than your physical injuries._ I'm not listening to you. _You really do like him that way._ LALALALALALA. _Knock it off! You're just giving us both a head ach._ You shut up first, then I will…… I must be going insane, arguing with myself like this. _Not really. I'm just your subconscious, pointing out things that you fail to realize on your own and fur- _LALALALALALAL-_ Alright already, I give, I give!_ Score: Yuffie 1 Subconscious 0. _Seriously though, you have developed some feelings for Zero. I'll let you think about it on your own now._' Yuffie moaned out loud from the headache she gave herself. Add that on top of her 2 broken ribs, her broken back, and some cuts and bruises along her arms and legs, you get one tired out ninja. 'I still wish I had something to fill my stomach with.' It was at that moment that a big, green warthog-like creature opened her cell's door, walked into a corner, grabbed a large barrel of rum, and took it with him down the hall, after relocking the cell's door of course. Yuffie started crying.

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"Lets see if I got this straight." Cloud started. "Zero's once dead sister, came back to life and teleported herself, Yuffie, and Zero to another world to heal in peace, Yuffie is in a fortress full of demons and a weakened king of some dark realm, Zero and Amara are resting peacefully in some safe village, all the while Maleficent is fighting evil swamp monsters. Is that about right?"

/ More or less, yeah. Don't worry, though. I'm going to head over there and tell Zero where Yuffie is, he'll rescue her in a jiffy, with his sister's help. Oh, by the way, Amara is a Keyblade Master, as is Zero. Zero's Keyblade affects each world's barriers, while Amara's Keyblade gives life to those that deserve it. On another note, I'll send my regards to the gang over there for ya. I'll keep you posted as best I can. We'll meet again. \ With that stated, Silver raised his wand into the air. It emitted a quick but bright flash of light, that when cleared showed Silver was gone. Silence filled the room for a while.

" Well… I'm going to sleep on this. Then it's off to Halloween Town for me. Night all." Sora says as he walks out the door.

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Hope you enjoyed it. I'll update soon. Don't forget to review!


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